Year 9 thank our Writer in Residence, Dr Sarah Ayoub
Year 9 were treated to an extraordinary writing workshop by author, journalist, and lecturer, Dr Sarah Ayoub.
Dr Ayoub lectures in creative writing and journalism at the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. She has written numerous highly acclaimed novels for Young Adults and, more recently, some picture books. Some of her novels include; ‘Hate Is Such A Strong Word,’ ‘The Yearbook Committee,’ and ‘The Cult of Romance.’
Students learnt about creating authentic characters, setting, dialogue, as well as ‘showing not telling’. Dr Ayoub talked about noticing the way people talk and interact.
Dr Ayoub talked about being keen observers of life to enrich and solidify good storytelling. She facilitated a very, ‘hands on’ interactive workshop where students were required to have a go at writing opening scenes with character and setting descriptions
Students were keenly invested and inspired by what Dr Ayoub had to say. Here are a few snippets from girls as they wrote about their experiences on the day;
Mrs Nicole Harada, Teacher/Librarian
Henrietta
The Writer in Residence Workshop with Sarah Ayoub was a very beneficial experience that offered us insight into what it is like to be an author and how to form ideas for writing. She encouraged us to observe people around us to gain more of an understanding about how to create realistic and interesting characters. She gave us ways to gradually integrate the characters’ personality traits and their history rather than describing the character in the first chapter. I particularly enjoyed brainstorming ideas on, ‘showing not telling’, relating to both the characters and the setting.
Azra
The writer in residence, Sarah Ayoub, gave an inspiring talk about creative writing. She showed us how to make characters feel real by using actions, thoughts, and realistic dialogue. We rewrote a haunted house paragraph to make it more engaging using, ‘show, not tell’. Her tips will definitely help me improve my stories in the future.
Vittoria
I enjoyed Wednesday’s author talk as it helped us develop skills within the creation of characters and the way their attitudes and behaviours specifically influence dialogue.
I was interested in Dr Ayoub’s way of describing perspectives and experiences of characters to keep stories authentically real, whilst still imaginative, in the way we present objectives and obstacles within a story. Sarah Ayoub kept our year group engaged even whilst learning, which is definitely a hard thing to do, yet it was fun spending our first two periods of the day on English with focus on creative literature. It will help us with key rules to keep in mind for our assessment later on this term.
Zoe
On Tuesday I was fortunate to attend a creative writing workshop run by the talented author Sarah Ayoub alongside my classmates. She encouraged us to observe the details, emotions, and conversations around us, reminding us that great writing often begins with noticing the small things. Even moments of silence can make conversations feel authentic and dynamic, helping us develop characters that truly reflect their generation and personality while naturally advancing the storyline. This session was both inspiring and insightful, offering us new ways to view the world, notice the finer details in everyday life, and strengthen our narratives as a way to escape the modern world. I am incredibly grateful to Sarah Ayoub for sharing her expertise and guiding my year group to see the world through a writer’s eyes, strengthening our writing skills significantly.
